OAKLAND FIRE TRAGEDY

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, February 5, 1995

1995-02-05 04:00:00 PDT OAKLAND -- OAKLAND - Three people died and three were injured in a fire in an apartment Saturday morning, firefighters said.

Battalion Chief Ron Carter said the fire began in the upper half of a two-story apartment, part of a triplex located at 3320 Brookdale Ave., a central residential area.

Carter said firefighters discovered three bodies, an adult, a teenager and an infant, in the apartment. They presumably died from smoke inhalation, and their bodies were so badly burned that the coroner's office must use dental chart matches to make identifications.

Carter said two children, ages 2 and 5, were rushed to Children's Hospital for treatment of serious burn injuries. They were in stable condition later Saturday.

He said an adult female was taken to Highland Hospital for smoke-related problems. A nursing supervisor at the hospital said the woman was admitted for treatment, but did not know her condition and declined to identify her.

Carter said residents of the adjoining two apartments - several adults and at least five children - escaped uninjured and were being cared for by the Red Cross until they could return safely to their homes.

The first alarm sounded at 5:04 a.m, Carter said, and by the time the third alarm went off at 5:10 a.m. "the fire was totally involved in the bottom and top floors."

Carter said it took 20 to 25 minutes for the firefighters to gain control of the predawn blaze and several hours for it to be extinguished. The initial damage estimate to the apartment complex was $100,000.

A second fire earlier Saturday morning caused extensive damage to a warehouse at 8131 Capwell Drive, where a wholesale flower shop was damaged, Battalion Chief Ron Campos said. There were no injuries.

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Campos said 12 pieces of equipment and 55 firefighters responded at 12:25 a.m. to the first of five alarms to bring the blaze under control.

The department is investigating both fires.&lt;

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